Four candidates file for school board
Four candidates have filed for the
three positions on the Whitefish School Board up for re-election
this spring.
The deadline for filing was March 24.
Voting will take place at the school district offices in the
basement of the middle school on Tuesday, May 3. Voter registration
ended April 3.
David Fern is seeking his seventh term
on the board, while Eric Hosek and Brian McDowell chose not to run
again. Three candidates seeking election are Tagen Vine, Shawn
Watts and Heather Vrentas.
Tagen Vine
Tagen Vine has lived in the Flathead
since 1997 and in Whitefish since 2005. He worked for the Boy
Scouts in Chicago and in the Flathead from 1994 to 2005 and now
works for the Kalispell Regional Medical Center Foundation.
Vine has a bachelor of science degree
from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in business
administration from Colorado Tech. He is married and has three
girls, ages 2, 4 and 7.
He said he chose to run for the school
board not only because his children will attend school here but
because he believes schools are a “critical component” in the
community. He points out that he has no specific ideas in mind and
wants to serve the people of Whitefish.
Regarding declining student enrollment
in Whitefish, Vine thinks some of that is due to parents leaving to
find work. As for high school students who choose to attend Glacier
High School, he points out that Kalispell schools are also facing
budget problems, and Whitefish is doing a good job of providing
AP-level classes and 21st Century learning programs.
“I got my MBA primarily online,” he
said. “It was a great experience. I can see the pros and cons of
virtual learning.”
Vine says his background in finance
will help him understand school district budget issues that could
include layoffs.
“I won’t come in with strong opinions
on what to do,” he said. “My philosophy about education and life in
general will hopefully guide me to make the right decisions.”
While recognizing the current economic
downturn, Vine notes that now might be a good time to do something
about improving the high school facility because labor and material
costs are lower. Philanthropy could also play a role, he
suggested.
“I hope the generous people of
Whitefish can see the critical role of the school,” he said. “I’m
not sure the current high school can carry our kids through 21st
Century learning programs.”
Vine recognizes that an open campus
provides “opportunities for kids to find trouble,” but he said he
hadn’t made up his mind about the issue. In any event, a cafeteria
needs to be built before the campus can be closed, he noted.
Shawn Watts
Shawn Watts grew up in Minnesota and
Nebraska and moved to Whitefish about 14 years ago. He has a
bachelor’s in religious studies from Georgetown University and a
master’s in religious studies from the University of Chicago.
After moving here, he worked for about
nine years at Plum Creek’s information technology department. For
the past five or six years, he’s worked in the company’s real
estate department as a senior program manager.
Watts says he wants to play a more
active role in the community. He got involved in Speak Up Whitefish
in 2008, a group that was providing direction to the school
district on facilities and curriculum.
Married with two boys and one girl,
ages 11, 13 and 17, Watts agrees with conventional wisdom that
“children are our future” and says being on the school board
provides an opportunity to effect change in the school system.
The draw of Glacier High School is
programs offered there but not here, he noted, but “there are
opportunities to grow the same programs here and stem the migration
to Kalispell.”
Economic conditions are the primary
driver behind budget difficulties and potential layoffs, Watts
said. The school district needs to be “right-sized,” which has
implications for staffing, the biggest part of the budget.
Partnership and collaboration could provide a way to augment state
funding, he suggested.
“We need to come up with new ways to
engage the community,” he said.
Watts says he supports the idea that
facilities help education, and the current high school doesn’t do
that.
“But a new high school is not a silver
bullet,” he said. “It’s part of the many components that make up a
quality education. We also need to operate under economic
realities.”
He points out that the new middle
school building was built to accommodate 21st Century learning.
“We need to make the case to the public
that a new high school will help education,” he said.
Watts said he favors an open campus,
while recognizing the trouble students can get into. But part of
the mission in education is to see that children learn how to stay
out of trouble.
“Locking the doors is not the way to do
that,” he said.
Heather Vrentas
Heather Vrentas has lived in Whitefish
18 years. She grew up in New York and got a bachelor’s in
architectural history and anthropology at Connecticut College.
She’s married and has nine-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, in
Muldown Elementary School.
Vrentas has worked as the general
manager of Montana Coffee Traders for 13 years. She served on the
Montessori school board for three years and served as a community
representative on the Whitefish School District’s Speak Up
Whitefish committee in 2008.
As a parent and business leader, she
says she wants to invest her time and energy “to improve a key part
of our community and to help make our kids global and civic
participants.” Vrentas recognizes the loss of students to other
school districts and wants to stem that flow.